Flag Salute & Invocation by Scotty
Visiting Rotarians: None
Guests: Sean Cool (GeoEngineers), Carmen Ulrich (RMC Architects).
Announcements
Bucks in the Bay $: Last week we raised over $3,748 which went to Wendy's Houston club and the flood relief effort.
Lydia Place will have a ribbon cutting ceremony (with cider press) to celebrate their new facility expansion, 4-7pm Thursday 9/28, 1701 Gladstone Ave.
The (Monday) Bellingham Club is celebrating its 100 year anniversary, and they will be hosting a commemorative dinner - all are welcomed to buy tickets and attend. COST: $100.00 pp, Saturday, September 23, 2017, 5:30 - 11pm. More info HERE https://portal.clubrunner.ca/264/Event/rotary-club-of-bellingham-centennial-dinner
Sunday Nov 5th is GRAPE & GOURMET! They committee meets weekly each Thursday at Bryant’s office at 4pm (?).
Please sign up for raffle and invocation duty.
Bucks in the Bay
- Stan for his wife;
- Curtis for his wife!
- Eddie for Viking Night last Friday, also a word for the importance of exchange student experience: Fun to see BBRC’s first incoming exchange student (who is from Australia) last weekend for Seahawks game and a beer;
- Tim Krell with the importance for acknowledging those people you know and appreciate, before they are gone;
- Debbie Kiene with thanks to John Purdie for helping out with Interact club activities;
- Andy Clay happy bucks tonight there will be a Rhody Club fundraiser for the volunteer fire department;
- Karen Burke for missed meetings while on vacation: she went to Buddhist monastery in BC for a week of total silence and contemplation!
- John Purdie bucks for curriculum night at Squalicum HS;
Sergeant at Arms by Flo Simon
Fines for misc. misdemeanors and a game of heads or tales.
Program
Curtis Dye introduced Dr. Curt Smith, who talked about the making of a video about the history of BTC. The video is a few years in the making, having some stops and starts. Most recently, Christine Baker, a videographer from WWU took on the project and completed the video. Curt showed the 15 minute video:
The story begins around the beginning of the 20th century when the old “apprenticeship” system of job training began to fade away. Vocational education was introduced in public high schools. In Bellingham in 1911 the first Industrial School was built by the Bellingham School District. It evolved into a manual-training section of Whatcom High School, and later Fairhaven HS started offering auto mechanic and machine shop. The vocation programs expanded much more because of the war effort in the 1940’s. In 1957, realizing that vocational programming was not adequately serving the community’s needs, Bellingham Vocational Technical Institute (BVTI) was established on the current 35-acre site, a former truck farm. BVTI was initially operated by the Bellingham School District.
Ray Smith (Curt’s dad) was an early instructor at BVTI, and over time rose up in the organization to lead the Institute for many years. He retired in 1972.
In 1991, the State Legislature designated the school as a member of the Washington State Community and Technical College system, and it is renamed Bellingham Technical College (BTC). BTC embraces it role as alternative to the more academic programs at WWU and WCC; BTC offers more hand-on education, specifically catered to meet the needs to local industries and employers.
Today BTC educates a diverse population of over 8,000 students in more than thirty associate degree and fifty certificate programs. BTC’s president is Kimberly Perry, Ed.D.
Respectfully submitted,
Stowe Talbot